Foot and ankle protector



July 15, 1941.

F601 AND ANKLE PROTECTOR Filed may 27. 1940 Inventor A tiq rney.

D. CATAFFO 2,249,553

' my invention P rtion It to -wardly spaced from Patented July 15, 1941 v FOOT AND ANKLE PROTECTOR v Domenick Cataifo, Mullens, W. Va. Application May 27, 1940, Serial No. 337,519 4 Claims. (Cl. 36-72) My invention relates to improvements in means for protecting the foot and ankle against the efiect of falling objects or other injurious contacts incidental to a worker's .occupation,

- and the primary object of my invention is to simple and eillcient arrangement of this character which provides positive protection against crushing of the foot by heavy ob+ jects, as well as injurious contact with the upper part oi the foot and the ankle from such causes.

Other important objects and advantages ofwill be apparent from a reading of the following description taken in connection with the drawing, wherein for purposes of illustration I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention.

In the drawing- Figure 1 is a general perspective view showing a protector in accordance with the present invention applied to a shoe.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view taken through Fig-- ure 2 approximately on the line 33. I

Referring indetail to the drawing, the .numeral 5 generally designates the protector which comprises an attaching flange 6 whose laterally outward edge substantially conforms to the shape of the laterallyoutward edge of the sole I of the shoe to which the protector is to be attached or mounted, and this flange is provided at intervals with openings receiving attaching means such as screws 8 to secure the flange in place on the shoe sole as indicated in Figures 2 and 3. The outer edged the plate 6 merges into a vertical wall I which varies in contour and shape from a substantiallycurved conform to the contour of the shoe at this point,'to a straight portion II at the extreme front, and the upper portion of wall 8 merges a sharply curved portion I! which, in turn, merges into an instep covering portion l3, from the rear and upper edge of which merges the ankle and lower leg shield ll. which is transversely curved and rises to a substantial height above the upper edge or top Ii; of the shoe it. the shield being sufllciently forthe front of the shoe to acccmmodatc the trousers oi the worker and provide a required amount of freedom of-movement between the shieldand the leg of the worker.- The entire protector including the foot coverin portion andtheshield llispi'eferably steelsoastowithstandanimpactprovide a bottom plan view substantially of a heavy object without crushing the foot or injuring the ankle or lower leg of the worker wearing the same. It will be observed that should a heavy object drop on the foot covering portion, the lower edges of the side walls thereof have a direct bearing on the ground due to the location of the side walls, their formation,

and their direct connection with the flange 6 which rests on the ground, so that no substantial portion of the strain of resistance to the impact is allowed to pass to the foot, but is transmitted directly to the ground. As shown in Figure 1, the shield It is slightly upwardly flared to provide a wider range of protection at the upper end l1 thereof.

Although I have shown and described herein a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be definitely understood that I do not desire to limit the application of the invention there! to, except as may be required by the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having described the claimed as new is;

1. In combination, a shoe having a sole and a toe portion and an instep portion, a protector comprising a relatively rigid shell comprising a invention, what is base plate secured to the bottom of the sole of the shoe around said toe portion, a hood-rising around and over said toe portion and having its lower edges secured to said base plate, a shield rising from the rear part of said hood in forwardly spaced relation from said instep portion and upper of the shoe, said shield being thereby forwardly spaced from the upper of the shoe.

2. The-combination with a shoe having a sole, a toe,-a vamp, and an upper; of a relatively rigid metal shell comprising a base secured to the made of shoe.

bottom of the sole around the toe of "-the shoe, a hood rising from said base around and over the toe and the vamp of the shoe, vertically from the .rear edge of said hood at a point substantially forwardly spaced from the front of theupper of the shoe, said shield being transversely curved. v

3. The combination recited in claim 2 wherein said shield is wider at its upper and than at the juncture of its lower end with said hood.

4. Thecombination recited in claim 2 wherein said shield is wider at its upper end than at the juncture of its lower end with said hood, said shield being inflexible relative to said hood. and the upper end of said shield being elevated substantially above the top of the upper of the Dominion csrsrso.

and a shield rising 

